I don't know about you, but it's been a long time since I've known the freedom of being four years old and fully engrossed in whatever it is that I was doing. Remember those days? Not a care, running wildly through….the yard, the field, across the beach… focused completely on every sensory response in my body. Feeling the wind move across my face, the heat of the sun on my arms and the sound of my footsteps as they hit the ground. Laughter….being chased and chasing… fully engaged in the moment of the experience….fully knowing that I was the experience… unable to separate one from the other.

Not a moment of my awareness was lost to analysing myself; figuring anything out; judging or assessing; or obsessing about the rules. Just me and the moment of my experience. Such vitality! Such energy! Such joy!

When was the last time you felt like that about your experience? How long has it been since you've been fully connected to anything that you do – work or play? And who said they had to be different things?

There are the games we play on the soccer field, at the beach or in our own backyards. And then, there are the games we play in the boardroom, at our desks and over lunch. It's not about whether or not it's the right game, it's about whether or not you're fully engaged in it – or an observer to your own experience. One will give you data – the other, a sense of being alive!

Sometimes, play hurts. We fall down, scrape things, break things, tear things….and know, in the end, that it has all been worth it. To be fully engaged in the game…..to become a living expression of it in the moment of it….is to reach out and wrap your hand firmly around your life…and then, re-open your hand to discover that you have become more than you were before.. To do less will cheat you out of your own destiny.

The games we play as we grow up are not always the ones that make us feel alive. Sometimes, they are the games that get us approval; or keep us unseen and, we hope, unharmed; or even allow us to believe that we are in the right game and all who don't play with us are doing it wrong. Whatever our reasons, the power of the passion of full engagement eludes us and we wander around, wondering what's wrong with the game – or all the other players.

Think of the great players in the world, whether their game is sports, science, spirituality… or any other area that comes to mind for you. What do they all have in common? Passion! And where does it come from? They have become the game! They don't just talk about it; or analyse it; or examine it….they live it! They open themselves to the possibility of being ridiculed or dismissed or worse. They are not always without scrapes and bruises – and sometimes, their clothes get torn. But they stay in the game – fully engaged and connected – because it is who they have become. To be otherwise would be a betrayal of their nature…the very essence of their being.

Live! Get on the field! Don't just talk about it or plan it or philosophize about it. Do it! Play the game of living at your peak performance! Get your knees scraped and bloody your nose from time to time. Let the passion and the flow of what's inside you move through you and into the sound of your voice. Laugh! Speak up! And, more importantly than anything else, tell your truth about you – and let your truth about everyone else simply fall away. It's not that truth that will change your life.

If I were to offer you a roadmap for engaging life, it would read as follows:

	Give generously – of your time, your thoughts, your ideas and your feelings. Take the time to really look into someone's eyes – it may be your last visit.
	Love shamelessly! Give it away – frequently and easily – unearned, unsolicited and undeserved…to the people in your home, your office and your grocery store. You'll never know how many lives you've touched simply by your willingness to take the first step.
	Laugh out loud at least once a day! Never mind how people look at you – it will fill your soul and raise your spirits to places most people never get to go. And remember to make room for your friends; and finally..
	Allow yourself to receive generously. Open your eyes, your ears, your arms and your heart and allow others to pass to you; to share their thoughts with you; to invite the birth of a new idea. Sometimes we forget that fully engaging the game also requires time on the bench – and under the wing of a coach. Let yourself be nurtured and protected.

Your life is your Starship. Don't leave it parked when its magic is in being in full flight. Where its destiny lies is entirely up to you and yet, we all know that it doesn't move until we give the command: Engage!